Durham Senior Cup Final; Westoe 36 - Darlington 33
Apr
THIS may not have been a classic, but it was certainly a thriller.
There were gaffes and flaws aplenty as a strong, swirling cross wind made conditions difficult, yet it was a fraught and fascinating contest that held the crowd in thrall right to the final whistle.
Amid much that was mediocre there were sufficient golden nuggets, including some really terrific tries, to make it a worthy and memorable cup final.
Which of these North One teams deserved to take the honours pretty well depended on where your allegiance lay, for their was precious little to choose between them.
Darlington supporters will feel aggrieved that having held the upper hand for so much of the second half their side failed to turn around a narrow 19-16 deficit at the interval..
But the fact remains that from the ninth minute when flanker Kerry Wood scored and fly half Sam Rasch converting to put Westoe ahead, they retained the lead throughout, although their fiery, unyielding opponents twice came within a missed set-piece kick of stealing it.
It would be a hard heart that begrudged Gareth Nesbit lifting the handsome trophy as consolation for his side narrowly missing out on promotion for the third successive year after fighting so hard and well despite being hard hit by injuries.
This was the fourth time that Beacon Electrical (NE) Ltd-sponsored Westoe had beaten Darlington this season, having done so in a EDF Energy National Trophy play-off as well as home and away in the league, and that may be some sort of club record.
In none of the games had the Shieldsmen played anything like their best and progressively they faced more challenging opponents, and so it was again at Hartlepool RFU’s Mayfield Park ground which provided a fine venue for the occasion.
An early penalty by full back Evan Haigh put Darlington in the lead, but then came Wood’s touch down after flanker James Fitzpatrick had bulldozed his way through a wall of defenders.
There followed a fine flowing try when Rasch broke from a scrum to off-load to centre David Haswell, the ball spinning to full back John McFarlane whose deft pass found centre Johan Saaiman with space to dive over, Rasch being again on target.
Just as Westoe seemed to have taken command the were guilty of unforced errors, conceding a penalty and then a penalty try.
They redeemed themselves when Wood scored his second try after another strong Fitzpatrick burst, only to give away two more penalties in the dying moments of the first half, one of which Haigh slotted over to cut the lead to three points at the interval.
A tremendous drive from a line-out soon after the resumption from almost half-way was halted within a yard of the Darlington try-line, but a second surge saw lock Paul Bird crash over.
Again, to the frustration of their followers, the Shiedsmen faltered, unusually losing ball in both scrums and line-outs, thus allowing their opponents to take control and be rewarded when scrum half Shaun Richardson cleverly chipped the ball ahead for winger Tom Bivens to collect and score, Haigh‘s conversion reducing the arrears to a solitary point.
Against the run of play came the best move of the game when Rasch danced and dodged his way through a bewildered defence, passed to Haswell whose precise cross-field kick found Saaiman whose off-load enabled winger Paul Alexander to finish the job.
Back roared Darlington with a try by prop David Tunstead as real time ebbed away, only for replacement winger Mark Olugbode to respond by powering his way over, Rasch converting to make the lead a critical eight points.
Still Darlington had a sting in their tail, the ball speeding across the backs for replacement winger Adam Kibirige to score in the last act of a heart-pounding, topsy-turvy and utterly enjoyable game.
*Perhaps Olugbode’s appearance and try provided another unique event in club annals. For he had already scored a try for the Seconds in their match at Sunderland which kicked off at noon so that the Westoe players could watch the final and was promptly drafted onto the First XV bench, taking the field just after half-time.
Rob Lamb and Graham Tiffin also scored in a 21-7 Candy League victory - Chris Laycock converting all three tries - with all the Seconds’ points coming in a second-half rally.
*The Colts beat Alnwick 15-10 in an Under-18 League match at Wood Terrace with tries scored by hooker Grant Walker and number 8 Gavin Graham and fly half Stuart Woodhouse kicking a penalty and conversion.
